Matthias b



(No Model.)

M. B. EATON.

IOE HOUSE.

No. 548,356. Patented'Oot. 22, 1895.

ANDREW EGRANAMJHUTOUTIIQWASHINGTON,QC.

UNITED STATES- ATENT OFF cE.

MATTHIAS B. EATON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO JAMES C. CAMERON, OF MONTREAL, CANADA.

-|CE-HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,356, dated October 22, 1895. Application filed January 25, 1894:- Serial No. 497,955. No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHIAS B. EATON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Boston, in the county of Sulfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Ice-Houses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in buildings for storage of ice.

It consists in forming and constructing the building with expansible containing-walls having doors and windows therein, said expansible walls being adapted to yield slightly in lateral directions to accommodate the lateral expansion of the ice, which takes place during the process of freezing. It may also have an outside housing, constructed of any suitable material and in any convenient manner and having doors and windows therein, said housing and ice-containing building 2 5 having a free air-space between them.

It further consists in the combination, with a building having expansible walls of storagecompartments located within said walls and passage-ways leading through said walls to 0 said compartments, said walls being adapted to move independently of said passage-ways.

It further consists in certain details of construction, which will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings herewith accompanying and forming a partof this application, Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of my improved building for storage of ice, showing, also,outside housing. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional 0 view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view showing one way of constructing the expansible ice-containing building, also showing the passage-way leading thereinto.

Same letters refer to like parts.

In said drawings, or represents the outside housing, I) the expan'sible ice-containing build ing, and c the free air-space between the housing and ice-containing building when the housing is used. Said ice-containing 50 building may have suitable doors (Z to permit persons to enter and windows e to admit light and air and especially cold air for freezing purposes, and said housing may have doors f and windows g for like purposes.

The ice-containing building may be constructed in any convenient manner, provided that the walls are capable of yielding laterally to accommodate themselves to the expansion of the ice in freezing. I have in the drawings illustrated one method of so constructing the walls, but do not thereby wish to limit myself to this specific construction.

As herein illustrated, the walls are constructed of a series of boards or strips h, having at their extremities tonguesz'and grooves j, adapted to loosely interlock, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. It will be evident that when the walls are forced apart by the expansion of the ice open spaces will be made at the corners by the withdrawing of the tongues from the grooves. To remedy this objection, I place in each corner a vertical angle-plate Z, which is forced into the corner by the expansion of the ice, thereby keeping said open spaces covered. The ice-containing building 7 may have a roof m, adapted to rest loosely on the walls thereof, said roof extending slightly beyond the walls, or it may be without a roof, the ice, after the building is filled, being covrial.

Within the ice-containing building may be placed storage-compartments n, and a passage 0 afiords ingress'to said compartments, said passage being closed by one or more 8 5 doors It It. There may also be placed within said ice-containingbuilding a water-reservoir q, provided with a supply-pipe 'r, and a distributing-pipe s, leading into the storage compartment or to the outside, to supply cold wa- 9o ter for domestic purposes. Said reservoir being surrounded and embedded in a solid mass of ice, the water therein willalways be cold, but will not freeze.

The ice may be frozen in one solid mass or 5 in layers by freezing a thin layer, then interposing a thin sheet of any suitable material, then freezing another thin layer, and so on.

The operation of my improved builing for ble walls are not water-tight, the interstices between the boards may be filled by spraying ered with some non-heat conducting mate- 8o freezing ice is as follows: When the expansi- 10c the walls when the temperature in the building is below freezing. As soon as the building is ready and the temperature is below the freezing-point a thin layer of water is introduced and allowed to freeze, then another on top of the last, which process is continued as long as desired.

By freezing the water in thin layers the lateral expansion is reduced to a minimum.

The outside housing may be dispensed with, if desired.

My improved ice-house possesses many advantages. IVater may be conveyed along distance and the house filled without the labor of cutting, hauling, and storage of the ice by simply introducing Water into the building by means of suitable pipes or conduits. It is especially advantageous where ice is stored for domestic use. The compartments and water-reservoir surrounded by and embedded in the ice afford cold storage for pro visions and cold water for domestic use.

Having thus described my invention and its use, I claim 1. In a building for storing ice, an ice containing building having expansible walls to accommodate the lateral expansion of the ice during the process of freezing, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a building for storing ice, an expansible building having walls adapted to yield laterally to accommodate the lateral expansion in said expansible building, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In a building for storing ice, at containing building having walls capable of expanding laterally to accommodate the lateral expansion of the ice during the process of freezing, storage compartments located within said expansible walls and passage ways through said walls to said compartments, said walls being adapted to move independently of said passage ways, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 16th of January, 1894.

MATTIIIAS B. EATON.

Witnesses:

ELGIN O. VERRILL, F. F. Snow. 

